Master Retouching in Affinity Photo by Ally Anderson

Learn to retouch photos like a pro using Affinity Photo. This course walks you through the entire retouching pipeline, from removing distractions with the Clone Brush to mastering Frequency Separation and Dodging & Burning. You’ll work through real-world projects to build a portfolio-ready skillset.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Remove blemishes, wrinkles, and flyaway hairs using the Inpainting and Clone Brushes.
• Apply Frequency Separation for clean skin smoothing and texture preservation.
• Master Dodging & Burning to control lighting and guide the viewer’s eye.
• Use the Liquify Persona for ethical reshaping of hair, clothing, and backgrounds.
• Color correct skin tones, whiten teeth, and enhance eyes and lips.

✅ Requirements

• Skills: Basic familiarity with Affinity Photo’s interface and layer system.
• Tools: A drawing tablet is recommended for precise brush work.
• Hardware: Minimum 8GB RAM, dedicated GPU recommended for smooth performance.

📝 Description

This isn’t just a list of tools—it’s a full retouching workflow. You’ll start by cleaning up images with the Inpainting Brush and Clone Brush, then move into Frequency Separation to separate texture from color. That’s the trick to getting smooth skin without that plastic look.

From there, you’ll tackle Dodging & Burning to sculpt light and shadow. Ally shows you exactly where to contour on a face to enhance natural features. The course also covers the Liquify Persona for subtle adjustments to hair, clothing, and backgrounds—always with a focus on ethical editing.

Three full projects tie everything together: a studio portrait, a backyard shoot with tricky lighting, and a business headshot. Each project forces you to make decisions about blemish removal, color correction, and sharpening. By the end, you’ll have a repeatable process for any photo.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• Photographers who want to deliver polished, retouched images to clients.
• Affinity Photo users looking to move beyond basic adjustments into professional-grade workflows.
• Hobbyists who want to clean up family portraits or personal projects with confidence.

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Ally Anderson is a dedicated educator with a degree in education and over 1,000 tutorials published for Affinity Revolution. She specializes in breaking down complex retouching techniques into clear, repeatable steps. Her teaching style is patient and practical, focused on helping students achieve real results.

🏁 Final Result

• A complete retouching workflow you can apply to any portrait.
• Three fully retouched projects for your portfolio, demonstrating blemish removal, skin smoothing, color correction, and dodging & burning.